The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline nationwide is just below $2.90. However, this does not show the extent to which $3 gas prices have spread. Most of the largest states by population are already above that number.

Specifically, the price of gas in California is $3.66, according to GasBuddy. California has 38 million residents. Gas prices in Michigan are $3.08. Its population is just below 10 million. In Pennsylvania, the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.04. The state has 12.8 million residents. The gas price in New York, with its 19.7 million residents, is $3.00, which is the same as Illinois, which has 12.9 million residents. Among them, these states have over 93 million residents.

The data show the extent to which gas prices are a regional problem. Texas is the second largest state, with a population of 26.5 million people. The cost of an average gallon or regular there is $2.64, which puts it in the bottom 10 among all states measured based on gas prices. Texas has the advantage of being on the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico, and some of the most massive refinery capacity in the world sits just south of Houston…